This is the title of a 2010 research report by Thomas J. Moore, Joseph Glenmullen, and Curt D. Furberg, published in PLOS One, an online peer-reviewed journal.

The authors of the study searched the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System from 2004 to September 2009, and flagged reports indicating violence.

They concluded:

“Acts of violence towards others are a genuine and serious adverse drug event associated with a relatively small group of drugs.”

The authors also established that the highest association with violence was found in “…drugs that increase the availability of serotonin or dopamine in the brain.” The strongest association was with Varenicline (a smoking cessation aid), followed by the SSRI antidepressants (e.g. Prozac, Paxil, Luvox, Zoloft, etc.) and amphetamines. There have been numerous anecdotal reports in the literature of links between SSRI’s and violence, and there is a 2006 paper by David Healy et al which pointed to “possible links” between these drugs and violence in “susceptible individuals.”

Incidentally, one of the authors of the 2010 study, Joseph Glenmullen, wrote the book Prozac Backlash, which is well worth reading.

******************

By the way:

I have updated my post on depression in the light of comments received. It’s now called Depression Is Not An Illness; It’s An Adaptive Mechanism.You can see it here.

About Phil Hickey

I am a licensed psychologist, presently retired. I have worked in clinical and managerial positions in the mental health, corrections, and addictions fields in the United States and England. My wife Nancy and I have been married since 1970 and have four grown children.

The phrase "mental health" as used in the name of this website is simply a term of convenience. It specifically does not imply that the human problems embraced by this term are illnesses, or that their absence constitutes health. Indeed, the fundamental tenet of this site is that there are no mental illnesses, and that conceptualizing human problems in this way is spurious, destructive, disempowering, and stigmatizing.

Disclaimer

The purpose of this website is to provide a forum where current practices and ideas in the mental health field can be critically examined and discussed. It is not possible in this kind of context to provide psychological help or advice to individuals who may read this site, and nothing written here should be construed in this manner. Readers seeking psychological help should consult a qualified practitioner in their own local area. They should explain their concerns to this person and develop a trusting working relationship. It is only in a one-to-one relationship of this kind that specific advice should be given or taken.